The Praya Reclamation Scheme (Chinese: 海旁填海計劃) was a large scale land reclamation project carried out by the Hong Kong Land company in 19th Century Hong Kong under Sir Catchick Paul Chater and James Johnstone Keswick.

Early proposal

The project was first proposed in 1855 but many merchants with private piers on the waterfront objected to the scheme.[1]

The first reclamation project eventually began in 1868 and was completed in 1873. It added significant land to Praya Central, which later became present-day Des Voeux Road.[1]

Second reclamation scheme

The second project was revived by the Tai-pan of The Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company in July 1887.[2] It did not commence until February 1890,[1] and as it was significantly larger than the first, the completion was between 1903 and 1904.[1][2] There were discrepancies in the number of acres actually gained from the entire project: some sources claimed it added 59 acres (240,000 m2) of land to Hong Kong's Central waterfront and Statue Square,[3] while some indicated that the total area was extended by 65 acres (260,000 m2) using materials with a total weight of 3.5 million tons.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Bard, Solomon (2002). Voices from the past: Hong Kong, 1842-1918. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-574-8.
  2. ^ a b "A Historical and Architectural Appraisal of Queen’s Pier, Central (Annexe B3) Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Antiquities and Monuments Office, Government of Hong Kong SAR, accessdate=2007-12-15
  3. ^ Wordie, Jason (2002). Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 962-209-563-1.
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